Rem 700 SPS Varmint .243

[COBigJohn]

I am falling in love with LR/ELR shooting....more and more every day. My last 3 trips to the range found me rotating through my rifles, shooting 5 rounds and letting the barrel cool, while I shot another gun. I have.....

Savage 12 in a .223
Rem 700 LR in a 7RM
Savage BMAG Heavy Barrel in 17WSM

I have found that I need to either slow my shooting down so barrels are completely cool on the rotation.....or buy another gun and throw it in the rotation.... What do you think I did????

Wisdom and deep intelligence pointed me to a 4th gun. So....what to get????

I found a local, monthly competition shoot....but they won't allow my 7RM....and my .223 is a little weak for the 600-1,000yd shots. It seems the latest rage is a movement from the 6.5mm guns to 6mm......so I shopped for a .243 Win, cause I already have the dies and a good amount of brass. The problem is the twist rate on barrels, as most of the .243's are 10 twist or longer for shorter, faster projectiles. Also....I am on a budget, but I want a gun that can grow with me and be upgraded so back to the 700 I have traveled. I found that the SPS Varmint is a heavy 26" barrel and it comes in a 9.125 twist. My research has shown that a 9 twist isn't perfect, but a good start and should stabilize the Berger 95gr VLD at 6,000 feet elevation.

I think the stock is going to be the first weakness to address.




Now, all of you will tell me to loosen the bolts, gently removed the stock, carefully walk across the room and promptly throw it in the trash.......

But....I will give it an opportunity to perform with some modification and upgrade.

There appears to be ample room for a lot of epoxy and fibers in the forestock. Those square cavities should allow for shoring up and a lot more rigidity and plenty of extra material to sand away for complete free floating. I'll rough up the surface, Dremmel some ridges and also some holes through the inner walls and pour in some slow setting epoxy, mixed with fibers and lead shot for additional weight. For balance, I will also remove the butt pad and fill it with lead shot and construction cement for even more weight. This is a bench rest, long range gun and I would like it to weigh 14-15lbs.

I will also Dremmel out the bedding areas and bed the action as solidly as I can. This will probably cost me a whopping $15-$20 in epoxy glue and worth the experiment.....before I spend $300 on a B&C M40.

By the way, I am also experimenting with a scope I have never owned..... I purchased the Mueller 8-32x44, 30mm tube with fine crosshairs. I'll report on how this glass fairs over time. I got a Weaver 20MOA elevation rail and Weaver rings.

......

 

[Ragnarnar]

One mans opinion.....save money for a full custom and shoot the 223 in the meantime.

There are some pretty heavy 223 bullets out there, that will fair pretty well at distance. It depends on your barrel, obviously. The advantage to this is you have to learn to accurately assess wind and range, ultimately making you a better shooter in the long run.

Then, have a reputable gunsmith build you a custom to your exact specifications. You'll be able to opt for more efficient chamberings and have it fit to you.

Then, take your state of the art rifle custom made for you, and your about average wind and ranging abilities, and go stomp faces on the competition circuit.

Again, just one mans opinion, someone else will be along to tell you otherwise.
Best.

 

[COBigJohn]

One mans opinion.....save money for a full custom and shoot the 223 in the meantime.

There are some pretty heavy 223 bullets out there, that will fair pretty well at distance. It depends on your barrel, obviously. The advantage to this is you have to learn to accurately assess wind and range, ultimately making you a better shooter in the long run.

My Savage .223 will only handle the 69gr Sierra's. It will take a new barrel to do any better.

And honestly, this Savage and both my 700's are destined for the gunsmith once I shoot the barrels out.....to make them custom and perfect for my desires.

Til the factory barrels are gone....I'll shoot them as they are.


........

 

[MudRunner2005]

Buy another gun... You can never have too many.

You need something small that doesn't heat up the barrel so fast... Look into a .223 or .300 BLK bolt-action rifle with a heavy barrel. Hell, get both! A suppressed bolt-action .300 BLK with subsonic loads is something to behold in the world of quietness. It literally sounds like you un-chucked an air tool off of an air hose. It's "hollywood quiet".

Something like these...

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/84440

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog...ion+Centerfire/Remington+700+TACT+300+BLK+OUT

 

[d11r529]

I did the same thing on one of my stocks and it did work for awhile, in the long run I went with a HS Precision probably as much for the aluminum block as anything. I just checked and you can get one off of eBay for around $200. I have Remington 700's with twist rates of 1X7 and 1X8 so normally shoot 105 gr bullets out of them but my 1X9 1/4 twist will handle 105's to the point that you shouldn't count them out until you try them.

 

[Ragnarnar]

Buy another gun... You can never have too many.

You need something small that doesn't heat up the barrel so fast... Look into a .223 or .300 BLK bolt-action rifle with a heavy barrel. Hell, get both! A suppressed bolt-action .300 BLK with subsonic loads is something to behold in the world of quietness.

And speaking of bolt gun subsonic 300blk, I've heard fantastic things about them being a tool for improving your marksmanship.

A 220 grain SMK is going slow, so you have to be on with the wind calls to hit accurately at range.

Similarly, the recoil impulse is enough to test your NPA and position and the bullet is traveling so slow it really lets you know if you're building your position wrong.

Again though, I advocate for a custom gun from a reputable gunsmith regardless of cartridge choice. Get a surgeon, deviant, fusion or any of the other "custom actions. You'll never go back.

I'm to the point where I don't think I'd buy another factory bolt gun, for a couple reasons, but mostly because I don't think I can accomplish what I want to in terms of self improvement. (And I don't want to play factory gun roulette.)

Ymmv. Best.

 

[COBigJohn]

I've already purchased the .243..... So I'm not looking at other guns and calibers at the moment.

Yeah, I was head-strong to check out the various 105's, but I was just so impressed with the 95 VLD's and they should remain stabile even at my Mom's ranch, which is only at 1,500 feet elevation. The 105 VLD's show they will be very margin at that elevation with a 9.125.

 

[COBigJohn]

I decided to run down to Sportsman Warehouse and they only had the 105VLD and 115VLD......no 95's. So I decided to risk it and buy the 105's.

We'll see if they stabilize out of my gun at 6,500ft elevation.



.........

 

[COBigJohn]

Received the gun. The action and barrel look to be on par with my 700 Long Range.

The stock, once removed was light as a feather, but I was impressed with how rigid it was ......especially compared with other OEM synthetics I have inspected. But thankfully it has a lot of empty cavities for filling. I ground down all of the fore stock to make sure that it would free float and I also drilled holes in the inner walls so that the epoxy could connect and be more rigid.

In the fore stock, I added a mix of high strength epoxy and lead shot. In the butt stock I added construction cement and lead shot. I also ground down the areas around the mount bolts and lug.....and epoxy bedded it.

Now the stock is really heavy and super solid. It is ever bit as solid as the B&C M40 that is on my 700 Long Range, minus the aluminum block.

As I mentioned earlier, this is an experiment and I'll see how it does. If it doesn't perform, I am 'out' about $20 and will go buy an M40, which I really like on my Long Range.

I wish I would have weighed the stock before and after, but with the scope mounted, it weighs 14.7lbs. Certainly not a hunting rifle, but a great long range bench rest rig.

I've got the brass completely prepped and I'm ready to drop in a primer, powder and 105gr Berger bullets. I'll be shooting her this coming week.

Shortly, I'll post some pics.

 

[redbullitt]

I have an sps in 223. Shot it today about 30 rounds out to 550 yards.

I changed the trigger and eventually the stock, but that little rifle flat out shoots better than it has any right to. I think I lucked out and got a good barrel and action from the factory.

Mine came with a similar stock, and it worked okay, but was very flimsy. I got a good deal on an HSPrecision takeoff I couldn't refuse, so it wears that now. I filled in the forestock with epoxy and made sure the barrel floated okay. Sanded down a bit on at the action end and bedded it too. This made the stock a lot stiffer and shooting off sandbags no longer made the front of the stock touch the barrel.

I would try to get some stiff rods or something like that for the stock to bed in under the epoxy at the front. Should be much more solid that way, especially since weight is not really going to be an issue. I wanted to do that in mine, but just wound up with straight epoxy. Worked out fine that way though.

 

[just country]

morning, I have the SPS in 223 same stock heavy barrel. stock trigger. the twist is

1-12-1-14 twist due not remember. 25.5gr. of tac powder, 52gr flat base or 55gr TTSX

barnes, federal 205 primer and Winchester brass. I did nothing to this rifle. shoots

consistently .250 or smaller. the only thing I do not like about the rifle is I am left

handed, so I bought a lefty. I should have stayed with the right hand action, which I

have shot for years. I can catch the brass. THK. U lightbulbgun)

 

[COBigJohn]

Here are pics of the work I did to the fore stock.....

After I laid the epoxy and shot, I came back and ground it down and then added a thin layer of epoxy.

The fore stock is solid and stiff.

 

[COBigJohn]

Sierra MK 175's for the 7RM
Berger 105's for the 243
Sierra MK 69's for the 223

Off to the range I will go on Wednesday morning.

 

[COBigJohn]

Visited the range yesterday and shot the .243 for the first time. I started off running some factory ammo through it to zero as close as I could. At 9:30am, it was a perfect day....no wind, 60 degrees and 47% humidity....shooting at nearly 7,000 ft elevation.

I was shooting 5 guns, rotating them every 5-8 shots. By the time I started shooting the rounds below, the wind came up.....and one minute was gusty and the next calm, ranging between 2mph and 17mph.

I shot the following (cause it was the powder I had on hand), and all shots were with the Berger .243 105gr VLD Hunting....and .02 off the lands:

7 rounds: H4831, 40.0gr = 2,702fps ave
6 rounds: Varget, 32.0gr = 2,648fps ave
7 rounds: H4350, 37.0gr = 2,758fps ave
6 rounds: Retumbo, 46gr = 2,932fps ave

I a"as light as it would go". Moving between my 700RL 7RM with an 8oz Timney to the 243 was frustrating. The trigger definitely caused accuracy issues. But, I will not load Varget or H4831 in the future......and how in the heck can anyone get 49gr of Retumbo in a 243 case??? I was compressing 46grs. And Retumbo was the worst with accuracy. H4350 was the most accurate.

For my next trip to the range, I think I will build up 5 rounds of H4350.... 38gr, 39gr, 40gr......maybe 41gr and 42gr (I have read that several are loading 42gr of H4350 and gettting right at 3,000fps with 105's....but that is over the pressure limits.)

I shot at 100yards and here are a couple of targets....I thought this was decent with the trigger and the wind.

I think I am also confident that my 9.125 twist is keeping the Berger 105 stabilized. But according to the calculators, I wouldn't shoot it lower than 5,000 ft elevation.


The Retumbo was the worst....




The H4350 was the best.....




I think I am going to move forward, dialing in the gun with H4350. And as of last night, the Timney is ordered and on the way. So far, I think the SPS Varmint stock, as I have it modified, is doing ok.

By the way, I really like the Mueller 8-32x44 scope. I will admit, that I don't like it much at 32x, but at 20x and 24x....it is really, good and that is all the magnification I need.


And here is some Colorado "eye candy"......